The Gazel: "The Heart, Long Ago Forgot the Memory of Sorrow, Hold Fast to Its Kindness"

One of the original poets of Divan literature, Şeyh Gâlib approaches the conventional understanding of love with a different perspective in this gazel. In tradition, the lover endures the sufferings of the beloved, and though he may complain, he never abandons them. Yet in these verses, the lover we encounter is weary of the beloved’s cruelty and is preparing to turn away from them.

Gazel

The heart has long forgotten the lesson of sorrow; cherish your favor

That nightingale has been claimed by another hunter; cherish your favor

We are no longer bound by the ties of complaint and affection with you

Your cold words have chilled me even more than death; cherish your favor

The days when I shed tears like flowing rivers have vanished from my eyes

The passion of deep sorrow has dried my blood; cherish your favor

Awake, my intoxicated lion, behold the state of this wounded heart

For you have swallowed so much poison from the sugar-candy of your smile; cherish your favor

Do not make my hair disheveled; I have no other faith but yours

You awakened my eyes, yet your fortune lulled me to sleep; cherish your favor

When the mirror finds the true nature of Gâlib’s heart, it will say

The heart has long forgotten the lesson of sorrow; cherish your favor^【1】

The gazel “Gönül ders-i gamın çokdan unuttu hâtırın hoş tut” from Şeyh Gâlib’s divan stands out for its departure from the classical conception of love. This poem is one of the most prominent examples of the vâsûht style of love in Divan literature.

In traditional Divan poetry, the lover endures the beloved’s hardships and accepts the cruelty they endure as a favor. But in this gazel, Gâlib presents a lover who is exhausted by the beloved’s coldness and no longer wishes to remain devoted. The poet declares that his heart has long forgotten the “lesson of sorrow”—that is, he is weary of the beloved’s torment. The beloved’s cold words have chilled him more than death, and the days of shedding bloody tears are now behind him.

One of the most striking features of this gazel is the lover’s complete rejection of the beloved and his adoption of a new, critical stance toward them. The poet suggests that the heart-bird has been claimed by another hunter—that is, his heart has turned toward a new love. This perspective diverges from the traditional archetype of the lover devoted to a single beloved, instead illustrating that the path of love may change.

Gâlib now equates the beloved’s sweet smile with swallowing poison, portraying the beloved’s beauty not as an object of desire but as a source of weariness. In doing so, the poet moves beyond the classical Divan idealization of love, exploring instead its dimensions of fatigue, disillusionment, and the search for new affection.

This gazel reveals Şeyh Gâlib’s innovative attitude within Divan poetry. His departure from the traditional discourse of love represents both an aesthetic rupture in Ottoman poetry and stands as one of the strongest examples of the vâsûht style in Turkish literature.